Page 78 of Mine

Fuck. I’d forgotten about the phone locations. Normally, I would have laughed, but since I was keeping secrets, it made me feel bad. “I went to listen to a potential client that night. I wanted to hear him again before his meeting with Tommy last Friday.”

“Is that why you blew me off? Couldn’t just tell me you wanted to go listen to a potential client? Or, I don’t know, take me with you?”

Double fuck. I winced. “Are you open for dinner tonight?”

She gave me a flat expression. “I am, but only if that means you’re going to tell me what’s going on.”

Lying to my best friend made me a bad person. I knew that. But I just wasn’t ready to tell her about Salt. I still wasn’t even sure what the fuck happened over the last two weeks.

It’s over now.

I’d almost texted him a thousand times. By now, I was sure he’d forgotten all about me.

“My mother’s death date is this weekend,” I said softly. “And I’ve been a little frazzled between Jeff being a thorn in my side and this new client.”

“Does thisclienthave a name?” Ellen asked.

“Salt.” Saying his name aloud felt like sharing a secret. “His name is Salt.”

Ellen snorted. “Wild. Is that his first name?”

“No,” I said.

“Hmm.” Her shoulders softened. “I know this weekend will be hard on you. Let’s make dinner, have some wine, and celebrate everything we have going for us. Whatever you’re working on can wait.”

It really couldn’t. “Give me five minutes and I’ll meet you at the elevator.”

“Fine,” she sighed dramatically, flashing me a smile.

I smiled back as she left and then pulled the papers back out. Tommy had put together a full portfolio on Simon. Over five hundred thousand followers, the majority of which he accumulated from a few very viral videos online. He hadn’t recorded anything professionally before, and plenty of his fans were foaming at the mouth to be able to listen to him for longer than the sixty-second snippets he shared.

There were two songs in particular I was interested in. The one who had made me orgasm last Tuesday night and the one he’d closed with. The others needed work, but had a lot of potential.

He wrote his own songs. He already had a stage presence. He still had a band even if he allegedly fired one of them that night.

I traced my fingertips over the pictures of him. Tommy defined his look as sexy, mysterious, and emo. He wasn’t wrong. Between his tousled hair, dark eyes, and tendency to wear all black with his leather mask—he fit that base description.

I would have chosen different words though.

Young.Hot.A sadistic sex demon with a voice that will rob your soul of sanity.

A sharp pain startled me—I’d been biting my bottom lip. The sting brought the memory of our last encounter roaring back. The sound room. Wrapping my body around him as he fucked me relentlessly. The way he’d figured out what I’d done to myself and the power exchange that followed.

The weight of this decision sat heavy on my shoulders.

If nothing happened between us, I would have approved without hesitation.

I would own his music.

It was the closest I’d ever get to making him mine.

So that was the answer then.

I opened my laptop quickly and logged into my email. I opened up my chain with Tommy and sent a brief message.

Hey Tommy,

Proposal looks good. Let’s move forward.

---